Gated communities – a worrisome development?
Gated communities are a form of residential communities or housing estates containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bikes, and cars, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. They usually consist of small residential streets and include various shared amenities, and there are several of them in the United States, approximately 40% of all new homes in California are actually behind walls. But in Sweden it’s unusual and people balk at their potential development there. Writes Stiftelsen Tryggare Sverige in Sydsvenska Dagbladet, a daily: “Gated communities for only one type of people close out what is different and lead to a less tolerant and open society.” Stiftelsen Tryggare Sverige is a fairly new player in the field of safety in Sweden, and they want to use public opinion to help people who have been struck by crime in order to get their rights. “Gated communities,” they write, “is no way to create a good and safe Sweden. One of the most important ways to fight crime and to increase safety, is all about the shape of our cities and residential areas. It might for instance mean a mix of apartments and work places and business areas, it might mean natural meeting places which lead to people meeting in a safe and comfortable way.” Advocates for Tryggare Sverige also state that there’s a lack in how to build safely in Sweden, as opposed to Norway, where there’s written into the law how to build safely and how to build in such a way as to prevent crime. Tryggare Sverige asks for clearer guideline from Boverket (the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning), a regional co-operational model between builders, architects, and town offices, as well as increased willingness from the municipalities to ask for safety analyses when buildings are being planned. “It’s time,” Tryggare Sverige writes, “to focus less on gated communities, and instead take responsibility for a safer, more open and more tolerant society, which we create with pride.” www.tryggaresverige.se

Are free tennis tickets to a politician a bribe?
The Social democratic chairman Mona Sahlin is under fire again after having been given free tennis tickets to Stockholm open by the organizers. The police’ corruption department says they will investigate whether it may fall under the corruption law. Sahlin says she has done nothing wrong and that she looks forward to seeing more tennis- and football matches. Also the organizers say they do not understand the criticism since it is tradition with guests of honor on big sport events.

Sweden stops transfer of asylum seekers to Greece
Sweden will stop all transfers of asylum seekers to Greece. The background is the unworthy treatment of asylum seekers. The Swedish Migration Board took the decision. "The situation in Greece is gradually deteriorating, also for asylum seekers from Sweden", says Dan Eliasson, Director General of the Swedish Migration Board.